BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
The following is a non-verbatim transcript
of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday,
September 22, 2015, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE
COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD,
FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Brenda Carey (District 5)
Vice Chairman John Horan (District 2)
Commissioner
Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Lee Constantine (District 3)
County Manager Nicole Guillet
Deputy County Attorney Lynn Porter-Carlton
Deputy Clerk Jane Spencer
Absent:
Commissioner
Carlton Henley (District 4)
Commissioner Horan gave the Invocation and
Commissioner Dallari led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC HEARING
FY 2015/16 FINAL BUDGET
Proofs of publication calling for a public
hearing to consider the Seminole County FY 2015/16 Final Budget, received and filed.
Chairman Carey announced that this
is the second public hearing regarding the budget. She advised that the Board of County
Commissioners does not have any control over the tax levies or budgets of the
School Board, the Water Management District, or any of the seven cities in
Seminole County. Questions regarding
property assessed valuations should be addressed to the Property Appraiser,
David Johnson, who is here tonight. The
Board of County Commissioners has limited authority over the budgets of the
Constitutional Officers of the County which include the Clerk of the Circuit
Court, the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections and the
Tax Collector. Chairman Carey described how
the budgets for the Constitutional Officers are reviewed and approved. She pointed out that the purpose of this
public hearing is to receive comments regarding the tentative millage rates and
budget, any amendments to the budget as desired by the Board, and to adopt the
final millage rates and County budget for Fiscal Year 2015/16 as required by
Florida law. Chairman Carey announced
that this budget hearing and Seminole County’s intent to adopt the final
millage rates and budget for FY 2016 were advertised in the Seminole Extra
Section of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper on September 17, 2015.
Edward Bass, Resource Management Director, addressed the Board
and displayed a PowerPoint presentation (received and filed) for the Second
Public Hearing FY 2015/16 Final Budget.
He
advised at the first budget hearing to approve Seminole County’s FY 2015/16
tentative budget and millage rates, the Board approved a tentative budget of
$702.2 million based on maintaining the current property tax rates. Tonight the FY 2015/16 proposed final budget
includes increases to the tentatively approved budget totaling $6,133,769. He explained this is detailed on pages 27
through 33 of the Second Public Hearing Book (received and filed). He added that per the direction of the 17-92
CRA Board, the reserve amount for the private development grants has been
undesignated.
Mr. Bass
stated by Florida law, the first issue required to be discussed at the budget
hearing is the percentage increase in millage over the rolled-back rate
necessary to fund the budget and the reason for the increase. He advised that the FY 2015/16 tentative
budget, as amended tonight for final adoption, is based on maintaining the current
year property tax rates. Mr. Bass
displayed the Millage Rate Summary and reviewed millage rates for the Adopted
2014/15 Budget; Proposed 2015/16 Budget; Rolled-Back Property Tax Rates; and
the Percentage Change in the Proposed Millage Rates over the Rolled-Back
Millage Rates for Countywide, the Fire Services District, and the Roads
District. He discussed the 2015 Change
in Taxable Property Values.
Mr. Bass
reviewed the Property Tax Revenue slide and advised that growth in taxable
valuation increased ad valorem revenue by $6.9 million for the General
Fund. He explained the increase in
countywide ad valorem revenue will be used to provide for governmental services
to the citizens of Seminole County and to reduce the budget deficit brought
about by revenue declines during past fiscal years. Mr. Bass indicated that the Fire Fund ad
valorem revenue increased by $2.1 million, which will be used to provide for
fire and rescue services in unincorporated Seminole County and the cities of
Altamonte Springs and Winter Springs, as well as to reduce budget gaps brought
about by previous revenue declines. The
Fire District will also generate an additional $2.6 million in ad valorem
revenue to provide for fire and EMS services to the City of Casselberry
beginning October 1, 2015. He stated the
Unincorporated Road District Property Tax Revenue will increase by
approximately $76,000 and will be used to provide transportation maintenance as
estimated in the budget.
Mr. Bass reviewed the Tentative Budget Summary by Fund Type and
stated the total countywide budget for FY 2015/16 is $708,351,050. He next reviewed the Current Revenue by
Type (Fiscal Year 2015/16 $440.7 million) pie chart. Mr. Bass concluded his presentation by
reviewing the Expenditures by Service Area (Fiscal Year 2015/16 $462.7 million)
pie chart and noted that Public Safety represents 39% of the budget and Physical
Environmental represents 21%. He pointed
out that the Resolution that the Board will be adopting organizes the funds
based on the format of the CAFR, which differs from the budget layout in the
Public Hearing documents.
John
Horvath, 1004 Bradford Drive, addressed the Board to state he sees a lot of new
faces on staff. He pointed out that he
has been coming to these budget hearings for over 30 years and has watched the
County grow and change and evolve. With
regard to the Fire Department, Mr. Horvath discussed the County taking on
Altamonte Springs and Winter Springs over the last few years and noted they
will be taking over Casselberry in eight days, which will add 21 fire stations
to the County. He looks at it as a very
urban fire station. He stated that he
hopes the County will be building some new fire stations and discussed the
Jamestown area and the I‑4/Lake Mary area.
Mr. Horvath
stated he knows the County has always run a tight budget. He pointed out they are building the Sports
Complex and will be looking for tourism there.
He stressed that with all of the different services that the County
provides, they need to look at them equally because they are all important and
all contribute to economic development.
With regard
to public participation, no one else in the audience spoke in support or in
opposition and public input was closed.
Speaker
Request Form for John Horvath was received and filed.
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Motion by
Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2015/16 General
Countywide ad valorem tax rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded
by Commissioner Constantine, to adopt the FY 2015/16 Fire District MSTU ad
valorem tax rate of 2.3299 mills.
Districts
1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded by
Commissioner Constantine, to adopt the FY 2015/16 Unincorporated Road District MSTU
ad valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills.
District 1,
2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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At the request of Chairman Carey, Mr. Bass read the established
millage rates into the public record as follows: The adopted Countywide General Fund tax rate
of 4.8751 mills represents a 4.43% increase over the rolled-back millage rate of
4.6683 mills. The adopted County Municipal
Fire Services District property tax rate of 2.3299 mills represents a 4.61% increase
over the rolled-back millage rate of 2.2272 mills. The adopted Unincorporated Road District ad
valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills represents a 4.53% increase over the
rolled-back rate of 0.1059 mills. The
adopted “aggregate” millage rate for all BCC taxing districts is 6.6171 mills,
which represents a 5.26% increase over the current year “aggregate” rolled-back
millage rate of 6.2862 mills.
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Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded by
Commissioner Dallari, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2015-R-168, Millage Levy
Resolution for FY 2015/16 inclusive of the millage rates announced, as
described in the proof of publication.
Districts
1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari,
seconded by Commissioner Constantine, to approve budget adjustments to the FY
2015/16 Tentative Budget totaling $6,133,769, as described in the proof of
publication.
Districts
1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Horan, to adopt the appropriate Resolution #2015-R-169,
Budget Resolution for FY 2015/16, as described in the proof of publication.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
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Nicole Guillet, County
Manager, thanked the staff for all of their hard work and the thoughtful way in
which they presented their departmental budgets. She pointed out there are four new department
heads, including Mr. Bass, and noted this was Mr. Bass’ first budget and the
first budget for Tim Jecks as Budget Manager.
She acknowledged that they both tackled the job with great enthusiasm
and she is grateful to them and their staff.
Ms. Guillet thanked the Constitutional Officers and stated they were
great partners and a pleasure to work with.
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Chairman Carey, on
behalf of the Board, thanked Ms. Guillet for her leadership in coming through
this budget with a new team in place.
She stated that she believes it pays off for the citizens as well as
making it a little easier on staff that they start the budget process so
early. Chairman Carey thanked David
Johnson, Property Appraiser, for the forecasting that he does every year and noted
that his forecast helps the County plan.
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There being no further
business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned
at 7:22 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
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